Goodbye
by marauders'-cat
Summary: In which Lily had run to the shops and wasn't home when Voldemort attacked, James dying in the process. Rated T for character death and general sadness. Also some fluff.


**Goodbye**

Driving back from the shops Lily Potter glances over at the seat next to her where the bags of shopping were held and smiled. Harry had unexpectedly got hold of James' wand and caused a jet of water to ruin his diapers, therefor causing Lily to got to the shops. But aside from the diapers she had also bought some candy for the three of them to have as a little Halloween snack. Of all the Muggle chocolates and sweets, James Potter loved Oreos above all. Lily had got a pack of them and the thought of her husband's face lighting up at the treat made her grin. She was just turning into the her street when she noticed the frenzy of people surrounding one of the houses further down the road.

With a rising sense of dread Lily realised that it was her house that they were crowding around. Quickly she stops the car, the road too busy to drive up to the house, and gets out of the car, fumbling with the keys.

She runs through the crowd, not even noticing the sympathetic glances sent her way as people recognised her and gave room for her to pass. Her only though was on her family.

She gets to the front of the crowd, where an Auror stops her from passing.

"James!" she screams, finally seeing her house in ruins. "Harry!" tears cloud her vision and she feels as though she can't breathe. "Where are they?" she yells at the man holding her back.

"Let her through," a sad voice says to the man. Dumbledore's face was a mixture of relief that she was alive and sadness at the news he had to tell her. Lily looks to him with a quivering lip, tears already running down her cheeks in preparation for the news she knew was coming.

"James?" she asks, not more than a whisper passing her lips. The slight shake of his head almost kills her, but she has to ask the next question before she can even process what the answer to the first meant. "Harry?"

"He is absolutely fine Lily," the statement breaks Lily's face into a mask of teary happiness.

"Where is he?" she asks, deep intakes of breath cause her body to shake and she wraps an arm around her stomach.

"He is just over there with Sirius," Dumbledore says, pointing out her husband and her own best friend. She nods her head in thanks as she leaves Dumbledore to talk with someone office looking.

Lily slowly makes her way over to where Sirius is sitting with her baby boy hugged tightly to his chest. He looks up and their eyes lock, the pain in his eyes matches her emerald ones. She walks faster over to him and Harry as though pulled to the only other people here that loves James as much as she does. Loved.

Sirius stands as she approaches him and as soon as she is in reach, pulls her into a tight embrace, Harry's tiny body squirming in between them. They pull back and Sirius hands Harry to Lily wordlessly. She hugs him, kissing his face and the top of his head, trying to reassure herself that he is in fact alive.

"It's going to be alright my darling. Everything is going to be alright," she coos to him as she sits down on the bench, previously occupying Sirius and Harry.

"Where Da?" Harry's innocent face peers up at her with curiosity. His words bring more tears to her eyes as she struggles to find a way to tell him that he is never going to see his Da again.

However his question goes unanswered as another member of their family joins the trio. Remus lets Sirius throw his arms around him, as they both shed tears of their best friend. The animosity between them has left since realising that neither of them could have possibly been apart of the death eaters. The obvious traitor was Peter; it was him who had spread the doubt from the beginning, who offered to be secret keeper. It was Peter who betrayed the Potters to Voldemort. But Lily pushes her anger aside as she watches Sirius pat Remus on the back and as they pull apart from their hug.

Sirius sits down next to her and wraps an arm around her shoulders, giving them a squeeze. Remus sits on her other side and she takes his hand on one of her free ones and kisses it, thanking him for coming. He takes Harry off her lap and hugs him to his chest, so grateful that he and his Mother are alive. Lily rests her head on Sirius' shoulder and sobs pull at her chest. James is gone. Her lovely, brave, kind husband is dead. Sirius wraps his arm around Lily in a protective hug, his own tears falling on her head. Remus gently rocks the youngest member of the Potter family to sleep, tears being angrily wiped away every time they threatened to fall.

There the four of them sat until at least an hour later when Dumbledore gave them a portkey so they could go to Hogwarts where Madam Pomfrey treated them for shock. She had shuffled Lily into a bed; a cot for Harry set up right next to her, and was forced to eat a sandwich. Then she was given a potion to sleep, as was Remus and Sirius.

The thought of food woke Lily up a few hours later. It is about two hours before dawn November 1st and she quickly check Harry before sneaking out of the hospital wing. Just as she turns away from the big wooden door of the hospital wing they open once more. She jumps in fright as Remus and Sirius slip out of the doors, Sirius holding a sleeping Harry in his arms, and closing it behind them.

"To the kitchens?" Sirius asks Lily.

"How did you know?" she asks back, frowning at him.

"You kept muttering about Oreos while you were sleeping," Remus replies. The memory of the snack she had bought for James makes her heart ache for him to be here.

"Why did you bring Harry?" Lily asks.

"Got to introduce him to the location of the kitchens so that he remembers the way for 10 years later," Sirius smiles. It was the first smile that any of them had made and in Remus and Lily couldn't help but respond with smiles of their own.

The walk down to the kitchen was mainly done in a comfortable silence. Once they made it to the kitchens, after tickling the pear and gaining entrance, they took a whole lot of food with them and decided to have a picnic on the Quidditch pitch.

It was there that Harry woke up. He looked about him with curiosity. His Mum, Padfoot and Moony sat in a circle with him laying as the final member of the party in between Moony and Padfoot, his Mum opposite. They were laughing and eating food; behind them the sun was just rising. He face lit up as an animal ran just at the edge of the forbidden forest.

"Lils, Sirius look," Remus says, spotting the animal Harry was smiling at. It was a majestic beast that ran with grace. Lily gasped at the sight, her hand coming to her mouth as tear filled her eyes. The stag stopped when it noticed the four of them watching it. It stared back at them and Sirius could help but think that it was there to say a final goodbye, as though James sent him.

"Expecto patronum," Lily whispers, filling her mind with memories of James laughing, a doe appears out of the end of her wand. The figure makes Harry giggle and grin, Lily smiles back at her baby boy. Then she turns to watch as her doe walks towards the stag, but before it could reach it, the stag disappears back into the forest.

"Goodbye Prongs," Sirius says, his voice choked with emotion.

"Goodbye Prongs," Remus intones as well.

"Goodbye James," Lily says taking a deep breath.

"Bye Da," the sad voice of the one year old makes them all turn to him. His face was screwed up in sadness. Lily reaches across the circle and picks him up. Harry wraps his arms around her neck and cries into her neck as she rubs his back soothingly.


End file.
